This invention relates generally to a top-gripping bottle carrier for engaging bottles at the bottle necks, and more particularly to such a bottle carrier having tight gripping means which is especially adapted for bottles with small-sized neck flanges or even with no neck flanges but caps. The invention also relates to a bottle package formed using the carrier.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,191 which is owned by the assignee of this invention discloses a top-engaging bottle carrier designed to engage bottle neck flanges. According to the patent, the side walls of the carrier are provided with an upper aperture for receiving the neck flange of a bottle. The peripheral edge of the upper aperture serves as bottle neck-gripping means for supporting the flange at its diametrically opposed portions. The side walls are interconnected at their lower edges by a base wall having a lower aperture for receiving the lower neck portion or shoulder of the bottle. The lower aperture is properly dimensioned such that the diameter of the lower aperture is slightly larger than that of the portion of the bottle received in the lower aperture. This is because a tight lower aperture would hinder smooth insertion of the bottle neck into the upper aperture and also because it would cause undue warp or creases in the side walls of the carrier which would detract from the appearance of the carrier.
A large-sized lower aperture is not without disadvantages, however. Such a lower aperture would provide play to the bottle received therein and would allow undue movement of the bottle and the carrier with respect to each other. For example, jiggling of the bottles in the carrier while the bottles are transported by holding the carrier would give a sense of insecurity to users. Such jiggling is particularly not desirable when the carrier is required to engage the bottles at their small-sized flanges or their bottle caps. These small-sized neck flanges or the bottle caps radially project less than about 1/10 inch from the respective bottle neck surface whereas the regular neck flanges project normally about 1/5 inch. Due to their relatively small radial dimension, the small-sized flanges and the bottle caps are more susceptible to disengagement from the neck-gripping means than regular neck flanges.
What is needed, therefore, is a top-engaging carrier which smoothly receives bottles without causing undesired warp or creases in the side walls and is yet capable of inhibiting undue movement of the bottles with respect to the carrier.